Different

Chapter 7

Being Levin's assistant was either boring or painful. But it paid for my college, so who was I to complain? Besides, it was better than washing dishes at a restaurant. At least, I didn't have to worry about skin irritation. Levin was as always egotistic. I spent 4 hours in his office, listening to his mundane talk about his college achievements. Then he would talk about how proud his parents were when he finished law school. My cheeks were sore from the smiles I had to fake.

School was tedious as usual. I wondered why curricula included subjects one never got to use in real-world situations. Was there anyone who had to do algebra at a grocery store? That had to be silly. I wondered if something was done about the case of a queer student who apparently took their life inside the male restroom. But there were only rumors around, some utterly silly. There seemed no investigation done. No one heard from their family.

The day passed by with me waiting for a sign that Jackie was all right. She didn't return my calls. Neither did she answer my messages.

The still air was chilly, but it didn't keep me from standing in front of a familiar house. The branches of aspen partly hid its gray roof from view. The lamp beside the front door glowed quietly, illuminating the old window and giving the off white wall a yellowish cast.

I mustered the determination to step my feet forward. Soon they were in the porch on a doormat. My knuckles hit the wood twice. The footsteps indoors stopped me. The locks clinked. When the door creaked open, a man in his fifties squinted at me.

"Mr. Shaw, is Jackie around?"

He glared at me from head to toe before shutting the door. Dumbfounded, I stared at the wood for ten seconds until I decided to dial her number. She didn't pick up. After what seemed like 30 minutes, I left.

My sigh greeted the still air. Each step made a noise on the pavement that was curiously more audible as the seconds passed. Maybe I was just paying too much attention on those banalities. Although I wanted to go back, to knock again, to see if she would open the door and tell me everything was okay. But there was no point. I took a deep breath as I hurried walking, convincing myself it was all for the best.

A car sped by. It stopped by that house, which was already a few blocks away from where I stood. For some reason, I stood still waiting for the car doors to open, and they did. A man came out and opened the other door, from which she came out. They hugged. And kissed.

She looked happy and in love. Before I could completely render myself frozen, I turned around and walked away.

For what seemed an hour, I was oblivious. My mind drifted. It didn't even occur to me to get a cab to get home. A car stopped. Its horn was loud enough to perturb me.

A lady came out. She wore a familiar expression, that curt smile that flaunted her red lips. Her face was vibrant and seemed to glow in the dim street lit by an aged lamp a several yards away.

"Madame Veronica?"

Her face lit up. She gave me that serious look, as if examining me to make sure she found the right person. "I knew it was you," she said, grabbing my hands. "You're cold!" She squeezed my palms and beckoned me to get into the vehicle.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't. I wasn't expecting to see you here." She fixed herself beside me and signaled her chauffeur to start driving. "This is my way home."

Maybe I was completely oblivious to the early spring chill. The warmth inside her car brought that snug feeling. It smelled like fragrant petals of some sort I couldn't determine. Relief rushed through my body. It was as though the emotional weight that burdened me was momentarily gone.